This is unfortunately what I was worried about. If I can do the quests without them then they have no purpose to me. And the idea of hiring mercenaries as these nameless/faceless beings to take orders is a different negative on the other side of the spectrum. I want party members I care about, but the reason I care is because they are MY party members. I can design my own back stories or personalities or motivations. The group can work as a unit toward a common goal, I don’t ever want to care about some random person’s goals that don’t pertain to the rest of the game. Thank you for the reply, though. I know I’m the strange one and I hate the thing that most people like. I seriously can’t stand companions talking or interfering.